Shafaq News

By Ali Hussein Feyli

The Communications and Media Commission (CMC) was established in 2004 under Order No. 65. Article 103 of Iraq’s 2005 Constitution later guaranteed its financial and administrative independence and placed it under parliamentary oversight. The central objective was to establish a professional regulatory body capable of managing the telecommunications and media sectors away from direct government and political-party interference.

In reality, however, this independence has repeatedly collided with Iraq’s system of political power-sharing and partisan distribution of public positions, placing the Commission’s institutional legitimacy under continued strain and contributing to a state of paralysis within its Board of Trustees.

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A brief look at the CMC’s record reveals a clear contradiction in its performance, as the Commission has played an effective regulatory role in telecommunications and internet services by addressing technical obstacles, allocating frequencies, licensing companies, introducing newer generations of mobile internet technology, and securing a steady source of revenue for the state treasury.

Yet in the field of media regulation and the protection of access to information, the Commission faces a more fundamental crisis, as Iraq’s media space is witnessing a clear decline in the quality of public discourse, with standards based on attracting the largest possible audience increasingly replacing substantive intellectual and cultural values.

The dominance of what is commonly described in Iraq as “immoral content” is not merely the result of audience preferences, but also reflects a digital business model built around “click-driven revenue.” Some media institutions, through irresponsible practices, have contributed to long-term cultural and educational harm, deepening a crisis of credibility and accountability.

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The consequences are not limited to culture. In a diverse and sensitive society such as Iraq, the decline in public discourse can create greater space for hate speech and pose risks to social cohesion and national security. One direct consequence is the diversion of public attention away from fundamental questions and citizens’ daily concerns —including corruption, unemployment, deteriorating public services, water shortages, and electricity— and toward superficial issues of little public value.

When meaningful debate is restricted in the public sphere, the CMC’s reliance on penalties and the closure of controversial pages and programs can produce only a temporary effect. Such measures have largely remained within a punitive and security-oriented framework, without addressing the intellectual and economic roots of the problem.

The ambiguity surrounding the applicable legal standards has also made the dividing line between protecting public standards and restricting freedom of expression increasingly troubling and unclear. The Commission’s decisions may suppress the most visible manifestations of the problem, but they cannot eliminate its underlying causes, which continue to reappear in different forms.

Creating a healthier public sphere cannot be achieved through administrative orders alone: the future effectiveness of the CMC depends on separating its technical responsibilities from political disputes and establishing clear standards that guarantee the protection of freedom of expression. Addressing the problem at its roots also requires strengthening independent professional institutions, including the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate.

Media regulation must not become a pretext for restricting criticism or silencing voices that scrutinize those in power and demand accountability. At the same time, weakening the Commission or subjecting it to political bargaining does not serve freedom of expression, but it gives those who benefit from weak oversight greater room to fill the public sphere with marginal disputes that divert citizens’ attention from corruption, public services, rights, and government accountability.

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This article was originally written in Arabic.